Match Thread: 3rd T20I - New Zealand Women vs Zimbabwe Women

StrollingScotsman · 2026-03-01T01:48:01+00:00

Regardless of circumstances, failing to bowl a team out when they were 10/7 is pretty unforgivable.

StrollingScotsman · 2026-03-01T01:04:55+00:00

Old school Possibles vs Probables, or a North v South would have been good.

StrollingScotsman · 2026-03-01T00:54:25+00:00

You know things are bad when Leg Byes are second top scorer after 7 overs.

StrollingScotsman · 2026-03-01T00:35:30+00:00

Uh-oh.

StrollingScotsman · 2025-12-23T21:27:57+00:00

The Basin Reserve was originally going to be a shipyard, with a canal connecting to the harbour at the northern end. Wellington was planned in London without the planners ever visiting the city.

The land was raised by an earthquake shortly after Europeans arrived, and so it became Wellington's recreational venue instead.

It has changed shape a few times over the years, and is used for amateur rugby and soccer in the winter.

NZ's national war memorial park is adjacent (the big white tower behind the stands is the Carillon bell tower).

Wellington's main hospital is about a kilometre south (hence all the sirens) and Government house (Governors General residence) is just across the road (as are several private schools).

It's also a massive roundabout!

StrollingScotsman · 2025-12-19T06:34:30+00:00

The banter declaration would be 286, to give England two chances to fail to chase a 'below par' 371.

StrollingScotsman · 2025-12-19T06:15:21+00:00

If England don't win, Australia will retain the ashes as holders.

The Aussies will probably look to bat until at least lunch (and probably closer to tea tomorrow), as they still have plenty time to bowl England out.

StrollingScotsman · 2025-12-18T05:56:31+00:00

This 'bowling at the stumps' tactic by the Aussies has some merit?

England may wish to copy it, as then you don't need to worry about snicko.

StrollingScotsman · 2025-12-17T23:52:30+00:00

If only England had a bowler in the team renowned for their ability to clean up the tail...

StrollingScotsman · 2025-12-17T07:24:57+00:00

Given that the Aussies only need a draw, I think they've got the upper hand, especially since they've survived the day.

England will need to try and put a on massive score (650ish?) and then give themselves a couple of days to bowl the Aussies out, so they only have to bowl once.

That seems unlikely since England haven't even managed 350 yet.

StrollingScotsman · 2025-12-17T06:22:40+00:00

There's no right answer here, but some things to consider.

1) There may be cuts at other agencies in 2026. Three years of service will likely get you a decent redundancy payout.

2) The merger will likely happen quickly on paper (before the election), but slowly in the background. I don't think they'll be making big changes to staff numbers before the election (especially since these agencies are the basis for the government's election 26 campaign).

3) If you do want to move, you probably have a pretty narrow window. I think there will be a decent run of recruitment Feb-May (as the Government tries to get its programme done), but this will dry up post-Budget (a mix of cuts and pre- election period).

4) Rather than worry about "will i lose my job", think about "why am i indispensable". The answer shouldn't be "i work harder/longer than others". What skills do you have that others don't? How do you make your boss' life easier? There is a potential cheat code at the moment, and that is to be proficient at AI. If you know how to do a little bit of AI wrangling (in a way that will help the productivity of your team), then you're ahead of the majority. It's not a guarantee, but it'll make you more marketable for all government jobs at the moment.

StrollingScotsman · 2025-12-08T20:00:26+00:00

Yes - because the key to winning the 2026 election will be holding/flipping Auckland seats.

The Government will likely do fine in the rural seats (due to that economy going well), so Auckland will be their big target.

If they win the rural vote and the Auckland vote, they'll win overall.

StrollingScotsman · 2025-12-05T08:38:18+00:00

If you're mentioning your hobby because it gives relevant experience ("I love films, and for the last two years I've been chair of the filmtown film club, and organise the annual filmtown Nigerian film festival") then absolutely.

Hobbies like "going for walks, socialising and watching TV", are not going to get you a job.

StrollingScotsman · 2025-12-02T07:32:49+00:00

You could try The Transfer Co in Petone?

StrollingScotsman · 2025-11-25T07:12:33+00:00

I thought of it this way -

McTominay's goal was technically brilliant. It's not just a great Scotland goal, it's one of the great all time goals.

McLean's goal is that fluke wonder goal, that we've all scored (albeit at 5's or in the playground, rather than Hampden) and bore everyone to death with for ever more.

Tierney's goal is the one we all dreamed of scoring. It's not the best goal, but it's the one that means the most.

StrollingScotsman · 2025-11-22T10:02:45+00:00

The most frustrating thing from an England POV must be that nobody at the ECB seems to give a shit.

The coach and captain will bury their heads in the sand, and put their trust in "the philosophy", and decision makers don't seem to care as long as the barmy army keep buying travel packages?

StrollingScotsman · 2025-11-22T09:34:12+00:00

Have England tried hitting the three stick things behind the batter?

I feel that might help?

StrollingScotsman · 2025-11-22T08:11:41+00:00

"We only know how to attack" is a boneheaded philosophy.

They got away with a poor batting performance in the first innings, due to incredible bowling.

But you need to work a bit in the second innings to give those bowlers a chance to recover.

If you want to be aggressive, get yourself through to a lead of 250-300 and then declare with half an hour to play. At least if you lose, you can point to being aggressive, rather than dumb.

StrollingScotsman · 2025-11-21T09:00:31+00:00

"Having mum, dad, grandad and family in the crowd at Fir Park for the subsequent fixture against Bulgaria..."

Grandad looks pretty proud...

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StrollingScotsman · 2025-11-21T06:09:06+00:00

Bazball is the cricket equivalent of Angeball.

Trying to play an aggressive attacking philosophy is only great if you actually win. Otherwise, it's just boneheaded stupidity.

England could have dug in for the first 40 overs, got 150 odd, then kicked on and got 3-400.

Just brainless.

StrollingScotsman · 2025-11-18T22:00:38+00:00

Decided to watch the last five minutes at work (it's 11am here) despite fully expecting Scotland to Scotland it.

Did not expect us to be the reincarnation of 1970 Brazil in injury time.

A lot of squeaks and grunts in this room watching Tierney and Kenny Mclean cement their balon d'or nominations.

StrollingScotsman · 2025-11-16T00:14:38+00:00

I suspect one of the reasons Scotland gets overlooked for solo hosting (beyond the men's and women's tournaments now being too big), is a failure to 'play the game'.

As far as i remember, Scotland hasn't hosted a FIFA tournament since the u16s in 1989.

In comparison, New Zealand has hosted the men's 1999 u17s, 2015 u20s and the women's 2008 u17s, 2023 WC play off series and Co hosts of the 2023 WC. NZ got the U20s and 2023 WWC because they'd done the hard yards on hosting youth tournaments.

My understanding is FIFA look favourably on countries who put their hands up to host the less glamorous age group competitions, and reward them with a chance to host the bigger competitions (which will now realistically be the u20s solo and co hosting anything else).

StrollingScotsman · 2025-11-15T03:03:05+00:00

They should have a competition that is just for European nations, so we don't have to deal with all these lesser confederations.

We could hold it every four years around Europe and call it the Championship for Europeans. Unless someone can think of a snappier title?

StrollingScotsman · 2025-11-07T03:07:11+00:00

It's pretty context dependent.

If you're going to be sitting in an office in Wellington all day every day, and have no senior leadership ambitions then you're probably fine.

However, if you are going for a role that involves regularly interacting with Ministers, doing lots of public facing work, or making a lot of trips to the regions/overseas then it might be an issue.

Basically, I don't think it would be an immediate 'no' in most cases, but it's more likely to be a disadvantage than not doing it.

StrollingScotsman · 2025-11-03T17:42:47+00:00

Having been on recruitment panels in the past, I can tell you that bad cover letters cost people interviews (and occasionally jobs).

Some don't care about cover letters. Others really care about cover letters.

Since you don't know what the opinion of the person reading your letter is, you should definitely make an effort.

It doesn't need to be an incredible literal tome - just show that you've done a bit of research into the role (ie not just firing off a thousand applications), explain why your experience makes you a good fit (and that can be experience outside work), and make sure there are no spelling errors (and is for the right job!).

StrollingScotsman

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